You know you're in for a humorous tale as soon as you see the author's pen name and read the Preface. Before Lee had even surrendered, A. Rifleman was quickly scribbling his memoirs, having just been released from five months in Yankee penitentiaries. With his remarkable (very colloquial) vocabulary and spelling, he entertains throughout, while exhorting you to understand that he is painting an unvarnished portrait. He even begs pardon from his fellow Southerners for mentioning examples of Yankee kindnesses to him while incarcerated. This Confederate soldier was obviously educated, however bad some of his spelling (why his editor didn't correct it is unknown). We have left it all intact. He even tosses in use of French and Latin, and makes up his own words where he feels it's necessary. "Any super-fastidious reader who objects to my word-coinage, is hereby informed, that he is at perfect liberty to draw his pencil through the obnoxious polysyllable..." Much has been written about the horrors of Andersonville and Libby in the South. The book is also valuable for its depiction of northern POW conditions during the American Civil War. Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever. For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.